Special to the Leader & Times
In an effort to improve staff and federal spending efficiencies while maintaining service levels, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Region 7 Office will be establishing an office location in Dodge City to continue offering monthly Mobile Service Initiative (MSI) appointments to immigrant applicants in Southwest Kansas.
USCIS District 7 Director David Douglas and acting Field Office Director Tammy Henry travelled from Kansas City and Wichita, respectively, to join with community leaders from across Southwest Kansas to announce and discuss the change in location.
“I respect USCIS’s decision to improve efficiencies in such a way that maintains the same level of service but reduces spending,” U.S. Sen. Dr. Roger Marshall said. “Southwest Kansas has a large and diverse immigrant population. The communities and the regional economy are dependent on their labor participation. Overall, this is a positive change that will provide stability for the long-term viability for the mobile services.”
The Wichita Field Office staff currently provides monthly services, which rotate between Garden City, Liberal and Dodge City. During MSI, the Wichita field staff travel to Southwest Kansas over three days to provide biometric capture appointments and naturalization interviews.
In an effort to streamline USCIS expenditures and staff time, the agency has signed a memorandum of understanding to share federal office space with the U.S. Department of Agriculture – Farm Service Agency (USDA FSA) office in Dodge City.
The new change will allow staff to utilize the time saved on travel and equipment set-up to increase the number of appointments each month.
Appointments for mobile services in Southwest Kansas are scheduled through the Wichita Field Office. Once applications are processed by USCIS and ready for relevant in-person services, USCIS notifies the applicant to schedule the appointment.
Immigrant applicants cannot make requests to USCIS or to Sen. Marshall’s office to make appointments at the MSI. Before the change, processed applications would be held until the MSI rotated to the applicants’ town; now all applications in the cue from across the Southwest Kansas region will be scheduled in Dodge City as soon as they are processed, decreasing the wait time for in-person appointments.
USCIS will provide mobile services in Liberal later in May, as scheduled. All mobile services will take place in the Dodge City USDA FSA office building starting in June 2025.
The USDA FSA office is located at 104 Soule Street, Dodge City.
Background
Starting in 2019, Sen. Marshall began to advocate for an increase in the frequency of quarterly MSI in Southwest Kansas. His advocacy was a direct response to feedback from immigrants and employers, who described the logistical and financial barriers for applicants traveling to Wichita or Kansas City to fulfill various in-person requirements for legal immigration status.
After a pause in efforts during the Covid-19 pandemic, Senators Marshall and Moran and Congressman Mann sent a letter to USCIS requesting that USCIS increase services in Southwest Kansas.
USCIS authorized the request and increased service dates in Southwest Kansas from a quarterly to a monthly basis.
